1. The book 'With
Friends Possessed A Life of Edward Fitzgerald' by Robert Bernard Martin,
published 1885.
2. The book 'Thomas Churchyard' by Stephen Reiss,
published in 1998.3. The book 'Painting the Day: Thomas
Churchyard of Woodbridge' by Wallace Morfey, published in 1990.4. A general search on the internet will also bring
up a lot of references to
him.

Bernard was born in Carlise and brought up in
London. He was apprenticed at the age of 14 to a shopkeeper in
Halstead, Essex, and ended
up marrying his daughter Lucy. Sadly his wife died while giving birth
to their daughter, who was also named Lucy. Bernard spent a year as a tutor
in Liverpool and then moved to Woodbridge in Suffolk where he was to spend most
of his life working for Alexanders Bank. Part of this time he lodged with Anne Knight
who was a writer of children's books.

Lucy Barton

He enjoyed writing and was good friends
with the painter Thomas Churchyard (1798-1865) and the author Edward Fitzgerald
(1808-1883). They met frequently and talked a lot about books,
paintings and the arts. They also collected paintings and between them owned
a considerable number of works by many famous artists.
Bernard also knew the local doctor Richard
Jones (1814-1888) who
also collected paintings.

Bernard's first book of poetry was 'Metrical Effusions' and was
published in 1812. His most well known works were 'The
Convict's Appeal', published in 1818, a protest against the death penalty
and general severity of the criminal code, and Household Verses published
1845, which came to the notice of Sir R. Peel, through whom he obtained a
pension of £100 a year. He published a number of other
works over the years and also became close friends with Robert Southey and
Charles Lamb. It was Charles Lamb who advised him not to give
up his post at the bank and attempt to become a full
time author. Bernard also wrote hyms.

Bernard's daughter Lucy married Edward Fitzgerald
but the union was very much a disaster and they quickly seperated. Lucy
remained close friends with the Jones family and when she died she left them
money in her will. She made Arthur
Helsham-Jones her executor and left him 100 pounds. She also left 500 pounds
to Henry Helsham Helsham-Jones, of
Redlands Dorking, 50 pounds to Henrietta Elizabeth Helsham-Jones of Vigo
Holmwood, and 100 pounds to Constance Mary
Helsham Heath-Caldwell . These sums are more than she left to her
own relatives, so her relationship with the Jones family must have been a
very close one.

If you have any information to add to what is
listed please contact me on jj@jjhc.info